President Barack Obama Recommends a Living Will

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009

Recently, President Barack Obama urged all Americans to prepare a living will.  These wills allow people to specifically give instructions if they become incapacitated or ill to make health decisions.  The President mentioned his own family for an example.  He said that he and Michelle Obama (First Lady) have living wills as well as his grandmother who recently died (last November).  In a health care online forum sponsored by AARP, he said “You wouldn’t want somebody else to make those decisions for you.  Therefore, I’d encourage everyone to have their own living will.”

To get one, you can obtain forms from hospitals.  Also, there’s a program of National Hospice Palliative Care Organization called Caring Connections that’s focused on improvement of end-of-life care.  They offer free downloads of living will form or advance directive at its web site for each state.

Common mistakes that people make in their living will is the failure to update it if it’s done years ago, failure to update when they change states, and not getting power of attorney for health care.  When you go to a lawyer, he or she can give you helpful advice, teach you about medical issues arising from it, or warn you about what will happen when you don’t have one.   

Tags: AARP, attorney, Barack Obama, Caring Connections, health care, living will, medical issues, Michelle Obama, mistakes, National Hospice Palliative Care Organization, power of attorney, President, Wills
Posted in Wills | No Comments »